


Truth Be Told

by Seasider



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Post-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back & Pre-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29206560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seasider/pseuds/Seasider
Summary: There was a time before Endor when father and son met, and something happened that made Luke believe there was still good in Darth Vader.
Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Comments: 12
Kudos: 69





	Truth Be Told

**Author's Note:**

> Despite the title, this is NOT part of The Truth series. I guess I just like using that word. 😄

“Don’t jump again,” Darth Vader said tiredly. His helmet dug into his metal spine as he craned his head to look upward at his offspring who was clinging to the side of a cliff, his fingers scrabbling desperately for a hold.

“I won’t be captured by you!”

“I do not intend to capture you.”

“Liar!” Small stones began showering to the ground and the boy struggled for stability, his face was reddening with desperation, reminding Vader of another young Skywalker whose fear destroyed what he most loved.

“I wish to _catch_ you, there is a difference. I have you cornered now, and I only want to talk with you.”

Impressive, the way the boy flattened his body as much as possible, almost as if he believed he could become one with the stone. “You want me to join you! To rule the galaxy!” Luke coughed as puffs of dust shot out from breaking shale.

“What a shocking offer,” he mocked. “You, young one, gave a short-sighted response without considering what it would mean to the galaxy to bring an end to the conflict.”

“I know what it would mean—destroying more planets, enslaving more— Oof!” Luke slid nearly five meters before catching himself again.

“By the Force! What are you doing? Come down from there. You look ridiculous.”

“I— I’m fi— No, I won’t!”

He shook his head. “Watching and waiting for you to fall gives me pain. Quite literally. If you come down now, I will not harm you. I only wish to talk.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I would not lie to my son. To Padme’s son. Come down before you fall and injure yourself. Then I would have no choice but to take you for medical treatment.”

Luke slid another few meters as more rocks crumbled under his weight. With a disgusted snarl of resignation, he jumped the remaining distance to the ground, immediately arming himself with his blaster.

“You would shoot your father?”

“My _father_ was Anakin Skywalker. Not you!”

“Ah.” He smirked, deciding against acknowledging a man who no longer existed merely to make himself more palatable to his son. The boy would accept reality eventually. Resting against a large boulder to relieve pressure on his damaged leg, he regarded the youngster. “Are your eyes blue?” he asked abruptly.

Young Skywalker hesitated. “Yes. Can’t you…?”

“No. I can see nothing as it truly is. My sensors display shades of red and give me more information, but still I cannot see. My eyes are blue.”

“Oh.” Luke blinked. His back pressed against the sheer side of the cliff, his gaze intent on Vader. “Were my mother’s?”

“Blue? No.” How was it possible that he still saw Padme’s face so clearly? Her memory should have faded over the years. “They were brown, deep and rich like kindling ebonwood that was ablaze with fire.”

The boy’s body loosened slightly, and he sighed. “You said… the word you said, was that her name?”

“Padme?” He had never considered that her son didn’t even know his mother’s name. “No one told you of her?”

Luke shook his head. His hair might be dirty blond… or maybe golden brown like his own had been. The reports were not precise in their descriptions, but clearly it was not as dark as Padme’s. And _her_ hair had been arranged precisely, bearing no resemblance to her son’s scattered mane or her husband’s ragged curls.

“Her birthname was Padme Naberrie, though I did not know her then. When she was fourteen, she was elected Queen of Naboo and took the ceremonial name, Amidala. So she was always Padme Amidala to me.” His lips tugged uncomfortably as he smiled in reminiscence. “Queen Amidala. Senator Amidala. Although when we married, by rights—” He stopped, uncertain where his thoughts were leading.

“You were married?”

He closed his eyes, and he was on the balcony of the Varykino estate. “There was a lake. The most beautiful place I’d ever seen or imagined. Naboo. Water… flowers… trees. She wore lace. So much lace. Old, tinted with age. So delicate. I was afraid my hand would catch on the threads and ruin it. Ruin her. I wanted to wear a glove, but she said no. That my metal hand was as much a part of me as my real one. She….”

Behind his eyelids, tears grew. He did not allow them release. “She was so beautiful that day. She was beautiful every day, but that day was special. She truly looked like an angel. And years later she wanted to go back there— to the official estate, pretending Varykino was ours alone. She wanted to prepare a nursery in the room that faced the lake. That overlooked the place where we were married. She was so happy. _We_ were so happy.”

“Then what changed? What happened?”

Vader blinked. He had nearly forgotten that Luke Skywalker was there. His son, who was squatting on his haunches, still watching closely, on guard, ready to spring and run if he felt threatened.

“I happened. Obi-Wan happened. I was consumed by fire.” That was as close as he could come to describing to his child the events on Mustafar. The grief. The shame. “Long afterward, when I had been repaired— as much as my ruined body could be altered and added to— I watched a recording of her funeral procession. You were… you appeared to be still inside her. As far as I knew, I had ki— I had no child. Until the Death Star. Out of nowhere, out of a dream, there you were, so brave and foolish. So proud of your name. I didn’t believe it. I thought you were an imposter, that it was a cruel joke—”

He pushed himself away from the boulder and straightened. Luke stood immediately. “And yet, there you were, the child I thought had perished without taking his first breath. There you were. And here you are. Here I am. We can be together as we always should have been… if you will come with me.”

For a split second, he thought Luke would take a step toward him— instead, he moved back and shook his head. “I… no. I can’t.”

If he could have shrugged he would have, if only to hide his disappointment. “Very well. Your friends have arrived. When they come over the ridge, I will kill them. So go now if you want to save them.”

His son’s lips parted, surprise displayed plainly across his face. “You’re not going to try to stop me?”

“And fight you again? No. Our first confrontation was enough. You would not listen then, but you have listened today. You will be back.”

Luke glanced around, searching for a trap.

“Go, my son. Just know that I will not stop pursuing you. Eventually we will be together. I only hope that time is not too long or too late.”

“What about you?” his child asked hesitantly.

His respirator hitched. They both appeared surprised by the question. “My shuttle is flyable,” he said finally. “I will be rescued.”

Without another word, the boy turned and ran, nimbly scaling loose rocks that slid under his boots. When he reached the top of the mound, he paused. Looked down at Vader and gave a slight nod.

That was enough. One day Luke would return.

He would wait.

Truth be told, he had no choice.


End file.
